UAE: Surge in civil marriage applications; over 10,000 foreigners got married under the new law

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (AD|D) has received more than 10,000 civil marriage applications before the Civil Family Court for foreigners, at a rate of 40 civil marriage applications per day, since Law No. 14 of 2021 on Civil Marriage and its Effects in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi came into force early last year.

Yousef Saeed Alabri, Undersecretary of the Judicial Department, said that the ongoing role of the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court for Foreigners as a pioneering model for civil family courts stems from the implementation of the ambitious vision of The UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and is a direct response to the directives of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Vice-President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, to develop a leading judicial system that strengthens the competitive position of the Emirate.

He said over 10,000 civil marriage applications had been registered since the law came into force, at a rate of 40 civil marriage applications per day. This is equivalent to 4 civil marriage files processed per working hour, particularly after the launch of the "express" civil marriage service, which allows marriages to be concluded in 24 hours only.

The express service was introduced in order to cater for the large number of tourists coming from all over the world to contract a civil marriage in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Yousef Alabri explained that the Abu Dhabi courts are committed to excellence in the provision of judicial services electronically, starting from the registration of applications to the completion of proceedings and attendance at hearings, as they are paperless electronic courts, in addition to being the only bilingual court in the Arab region, since it provides forms and judgements in Arabic and English, thus guaranteeing the right of foreigners to understand the litigation procedures in a simplified manner, without any language barrier that might hinder the understanding of the decisions handed down by the courts in the cases.

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